


Bees???

by TheStageManager



Series: Wingus & Dingus [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Age Appropriate Clone Shenanigans, Bees, Brotherly Love, CT-27-5555 | Fives is a Dumbass, CT-27-5555 | Fives is a Good Brother, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Hurt CT-21-0408 | Echo, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24614242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStageManager/pseuds/TheStageManager
Summary: When Echo gets stung by bees, Fives thinks its hilarious.When it turns out that Echo is allergic to bees, it becomes marginally less funny.
Relationships: CT-21-0408 | Echo & CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555
Series: Wingus & Dingus [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1779508
Comments: 2
Kudos: 86





	Bees???

“I’s no’ fucking funny, Fife!” Echo shouted past his swollen lips, but Fives only continued to laugh harder, much to Echo’s great annoyance.

_Nothing_ about the situation was funny. Echo’s frown deepened and the action caused a brief twinge pain to skirt across his cheeks. He lifted a hand to his lips and winced, carefully feeling out how puffy his face was becoming.

“Fife!” Fives howled, slapping his knees and stomping his feet like a frustrated toddler trapped in a three-hour-long Catholic mass. “You sound so dumb!”

“Sto’ laughing!” Echo snapped and gave his brother a hearty shove. How his brother could ever be so stupid and immature and _thoughtless_ was absolutely beyond him.

_Di’kut._

Fives, who was perched at the very edge of his seat, rocking with laughter, was already off balance enough that the added force sent him toppling off his seat and sprawling onto the floor. Unfortunately, rather than disuade him, the action only succeeded to encourage his riotous laughter, and he found himself entirely unable to get up.

“Your fucking face is so fucked up!”

“I won’er why, dumbass!” Echo shouted, rapidly losing his temper.

Fives rolled onto this stomach, then propped himself up on his hands and knees, one hand wrapped around his middle. He was clearly trying to get up, but he was laughing so hard that he couldn’t seem to get his balance. Seeing his opportunity, Echo gave Fives a shift kick in the _shebs_ , which earned him a pained, startled howl as Fives scrambled upright to cover his ass, lest he be kicked again.

Echo smirked. That sure shut him up quick.

“An’ you look jus’ as bad, you asthhole!” Echo added, looking rather pleased with himself.

Fives scowled. “You’re the asthhole!” he mocked angrily. “Why did you kick me!”

“Because you deserved it!” Echo smirked, then winced again as pain raced across his face and Fives had the decency to at least look a little guilty about it.

Once again, Echo’s pain was had been entirely his brother’s fault. He’d had the great misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when Fives decided to piss off a whole swarm of bees with a handful of rocks and a shiny from the 212th. However, much to Echo’s vengeful delight, Fives didn’t escape entirely unharmed either: his whole forehead and one of his ears was rapidly ballooning. He was starting to look like a Twi’lek with the shape his head was taking.

“How does it feel?” Fives asked, gesturing vaguely to Echo’s face as he sat down again. “Mine hurts like hell,” he offered, prodding at his own, swollen forehead (which was beginning to look like a real fivehead, or maybe even a sixhead in Echo’s honest opinion.)

“Mine doesthn’t hur’ at all,” Echo bragged, immediately seeing the opportunity to one-up his brother.

“That’s banthashit and you know it,” Fives huffed, not one to be outdone.

“Y’know, I didn’ think your head could’get any bigger,” Echo jabbed with a cruel, lopsided smirk.

Fives merely rolled his eyes. “Asthhole,” he repeated, with a smirk of his own and Echo shoved him again.

The shuttle carrying the pair of clones docked aboard the _Resolute_ , and Fives tossed an arm around his brother’s shoulders, leading him, not towards the barracks, but in the direction of medbay. “C’mon, _vod_ , let’s get Kix to look at you and your fucked up face,” he offered jovially, as if he didn’t know fully well that they were going to get the tongue-lashing of a lifetime from the cranky 501st medic.

Echo stopped dead in his tracks, eyes (well... one eye) wide with utter horror. “No way!” he declared. “Do you haf’ any idea how pisthed off he’f gonna be?”

Fives waved his hand noncommittally. “It’ll be fine! Besides, the bee thing wasn’t even your idea, as you keep reminding me,”

“He’f gonna yell at me too, you dumbasth!” Echo protested, continuing to resist even when Fives grabbed him by the arm and attempted to drag him along.

“He yells at us all the time! C’mon, Echo, I’ll be right behind you,” Fives offered, finally choosing to let go of his obligatory wise-ass attitude in hopes of placating his brother because, frankly, Echo’s face was starting to look _horrific_ , and he couldn’t deny that he was starting to get a little worried.

But just a little.

And he certainly didn’t feel guilty.

Nope.

Unfortunately, Echo wasn’t ready to relinquish his hold on his reluctance. “Thisth isth different!” Echo protested. “If we go to medbay, we’re in _histh_ territory,”

Fives held out is arms in a gesture that was halfway between the compassionate _come here, I’ll protect you_ and the utterly exasperated _are you fucking kidding me?_ “So what?”

Now it was Echo’s turn to look frustrated. “Are you kidding me?” he demanded.

Five’s couldn’t help the little sparkles of abject irritation that bubbled up in his chest like carbonation in one of those fizzy sodas at Dex’s. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s not my fault I don’t understand what you’re saying. You’re speaking in riddles!”

“Needles, you _di’kut!”_ Echo shouted and Fives absolutely erupted in laughter.

“Karking hells, Echo! Your _Mando’a_ sounds worse than the General’s!” Fives hollered, momentarily forgetting the urgency of the situation.

“Oh, gee, I WON’ER WHY!” Echo shouted and, apparently having decided that enough was enough, spun around on his heel and turned to leave in the direction of the barracks.

Unfortunately, Fives wasn’t going to let him go so easily and grabbed his brother’s arm, jerking him back so fast that Echo was seeing double.

“Ow! Wha’ th’ hell, Fife!” he shouted, but Fives ignored him.

“What’s the worst he’s gonna do, yell at you and give you a shot?” Fives asked, having regained control and tempered his laughter.

“Yesth, tha’s exactly it!” Echo whined, doing his best to wiggle out of his brother’s grasp.

A pang of sympathy twisted up inside five’s heart. His poor, dumb brother could face front-lines horror with an iron will, but show him a needle and he panicked. “C’mon, I thought you had a thicker skin than that, you big baby,” Fives challenged, tightening his hold on his brother.

Echo tugged his arms free and crossed them over his chest with a dramatic huff. “I do haf thick skin,” he declared, leering at Fives in a way that, at any other time, would’ve looked menacing. Now, however, he only succeeded in appearing childish and petulant.

Fives actively had to resist the urge to coo and pinch his chubby little cheeks.

Cheek.

The other still looked pretty normal.

“Besides, I feel fine,” Echo offered with a sheepish smile, waving one of his shaking hands.

“Your hands are shaking,” Fives argued, quirking an eyebrow. All of this arguing was staring to wear him out and he was feeling less and less guilty with each passing second. If Echo said he felt fine, who was he to argue?

Echo shrunk back, as if trying to put as much space between his brother and himself as he could, so he could bolt if necessary. “It’s an ahgreenal responth,” he said, absolutely unintelligibly.

Fives’ eyes widened in delight and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from cackling. Unfortunately, Echo easily recognized the expression and scowled. Well... half of his face scowled. The other half only continued to swell itself shut.

“Don’ you dare laugh,” Echo growled.

“It’s a _what_ response, Echo?” Fives asked, his own cheeks trembling from the exertion of holding back peals of laughter.

It was terrible thing to do, to mock his brother when he was clearly ailing. But Fives’ couldn’t help it. Echo had always been the perfect clone: dedicated, honorable, obedient, and never had a hair out of place. To hear him now, talking like a cadet whose two front baby teeth were missing, it was _hysterical._

Echo threw his shaking hands into the air In frustration. “A-dre-nal. Adrenal responth,” he ground out slowly. “There, are you fucking happy?”

Fives scrunched his lips together, trying to make them as small as he could to hide his manic grin. “So fucking happy, Echo,” he snerked.

Unfortunately, his mirth died quickly because the fact still remained: Half of Echo’s face was getting puffier than a marshmallow in a microwave and Fives was starting to suspect an allergic reaction.

“C’mon, let’s go down to medical. I’ll come with you! I’ll tell him it was my fault, and I won’t let him stick you with any needles, okay? Sound fair, _vod’ika_?” Fives requested, keeping his voice low and gentle in hopes of placating his flighty brother.

Unfortunately, his words achieved exactly the _opposite_ of their desired effect: Echo snapped to attention looking absolutely _furious._

“ _Vod’ika_? Excuse you,” he said, irritably. “We both know tha’ I was decanted _well_ before you,”

Fives couldn’t believe it. He could not believe it. “Little gods, Echo, do you really want to have this argument right now? While your tongue is actively swelling?” he demanded incredulously.

This was getting old and Fives wanted to scream.

“Yesth I do!” Echo declared. “Because I have _seen_ your records and I know fully well tha’ you were decanted a whole _fifteen minutes_ after I was!”

Fives knew what Echo was doing: he was stalling. He did this _literally every time_ he faced the prospect of needing any kind of injection or IV. He was panicking, afraid of the possibility of somebody sticking a needle in him, and he was lashing out and biding his time. Like a pursuit predator against fast-moving prey, he was trying to wear Fives out.

_And it was fucking working._

“That’s a fucking lie! You’ve never once seen my records!” Fives retaliated, unable to resist taking the bait.

Echo had the audacity to look almost smug.

“It is not! I absolute have seen your records! _Ori’haat!”_ Echo declared proudly.

“And just how did you manage that, Echo? Huh? How did you manage that? Who in Sith Hells showed you my medical records?” Fives demanded.

Echo smirked. Even with his face looking more inflated that General Skywalker’s ego, he fucking _smirked._ “212th medic showed me t’ settle a bet,” he said.

“No way in hell. Helix would never-“

“No’ Helix. It wasth Terror, before he died,” Echo crossed his arms and Fives’ temper boiled over.

“Terror isn’t dead, you dipshit! He transferred to 327th, you absolute lying piece of _osik!”_

But Echo didn’t hear because he was too busy shouting over his brother. “An’ you know wha’ it said? It said they left you in there for an extra fifteen minutes to try an’ help you grow some braincells!”

Fives grit his teeth and pushed Echo so hard, the latter toppled over, unable to maintain his balance. “ _Nibral!”_ Fives shouted and regretted it the second the word spilled out of his mouth.

It was a particularly vulgar, rude, and utterly disrespectful insult: _nibral._ The word was Mando’a, meaning “loser, or failure” and it carried heavy weight in their culture.

Fives might as well have told Echo he was disappointed to call him ‘brother’.

He didn’t mean it. Of course not, how could he? Echo was his _vod_. They were batch-mates, the only two left of Domino Squad. They were as close as close could be.

Still, the word carried a weight with it—it was not a word to be slung around casually.

Echo’s head snapped up, his good eye wide with shock and hurt. He opened his mouth to speak, but Fives cut him off. He didn’t want to hear the rebuke, he didn’t _need_ to hear it. He knew he’d karked up big time. His cheeks burned red with shame.

“Sith hells, Echo, you’re acting like a kid. Just go down to medical and let them check you out,” he ordered, defeated, in lieu of an apology and once again grabbed a hold of his brother’s arm, pulling him to his feet.

“Fife, stop! I’m no’ going to medical! I’m fine!” Echo snarled pulling his hand away from Fives, so violently, they both really fell over.

Echo was pissed and he had every right to be. However, Fives wasn’t quite ready to cave in and apologize, so he threw his hands in the air, deciding that he’d had enough.

“Fine! Whatever! Have it your way!” he exclaimed and stormed off towards the mess hall, leaving Echo and his fucked-up face all by his lonesome.

It didn’t take long for the regret to set in. _Nibral_ wasn’t an insult to be left hanging in the air. Twenty minutes later, Fives was in the barracks, having decided that _maybe_ he’d been a bit of an asshole and had pushed things too far.

But it wasn’t like he was _worried_ about Echo or anything.

Definitely not.

Echo could kiss his ass.

For _sure_.

He found Echo sitting on his bunk, staring down at his hands as he slowly curled and uncurled his fingers. He looked totally miserable (though Fives couldn’t get a good look at his face) and he started to acknowledge that, yes, he had gone way too far.

How would he feel if Echo had called him that? _Nibral_ was the sort of insult one used to permanently cut ties.

Rolling his eyes at his own stupidity (and trying to ignore the fact that _maybe_ he was more nervous than he was willing to admit) Fives shuffled up to Echo and sat beside him.

They sat there for a long time in total silence, with Echo completely refusing to even _look_ at Fives.

Goddammit. He’d really fucked up this time, hadn’t he?

Swallowing thickly, he balled his fists on top of his knees and took a deep breath.

“Listen,” he began. “I uh... wanted to apologize. I didn’t _mean_ for you to get stung by the bees, we just wanted to see ‘em swarm. That’s not the point. But I shouldn’t have laughed at you, that wasn’t fair. And I didn’t mean to make you so angry. And I definitely didn’t mean what I said. I shouldn’t have called you that and I absolutely didn’t mean it. I just got angry and you know I get stupid when I’m angry. I wasn’t thinking. So, I’m sorry, _ori’vod._ Can you forgive me?”

For a long time, Echo didn’t respond and Five felt his heart hammer in his chest, suddenly afraid that his brother wouldn’t forgive him this time around.

But then Echo chuckled, a wheezing sort of sound that reminded Fives _‘Oh shit, the bees’_.

“ _Ori’vod?”_ Echo asked, still without facing him.

“Yeah,” Fives said a little too quickly because _snip snap, c’mon let’s go, Echo. It’s time to go to medical because I have a feeling those bees fucked you up..._

“Well, I mean, you are fifteen minutes older, after all,” he finally acquiesced.

Echo smiled. He smiled! And damn, if that wasn’t the most relieving sight. But then, he turn around to face his brother and _holy shit, his face._

“Little Gods, Echo! What the fuck!” Fives shouted.

Echo glared, scrunching up the half of his face that wasn’t so swollen that it couldn’t move. Then, his face contorted and managed to roll itself into an utterly pinched, lopsided grin. “Tha’s how I feel e’ery time I look at you,” he drawled out slowly.

At least the bees hadn’t taken his sense of humor.

“We have the same face, _di’kut_ ,” Fives snorted, grinning in relief because that was all the forgiveness that needed to be said.

“Nah... ‘m prettier,” Echo preened, his heavy head lolling to one side.

“Sure, _ori’vod._ Whatever you say,” Fives chuckled before helping Echo to his feet. “Come on, let’s go take you to medical,”

It was well past dinner time by the time Fives returned to the barracks, with Echo trudging listlessly behind him. Whatever Kix has given him (in the form of a pill, as both brothers had adamantly insisted) it must’ve been strong because Echo could barely keep his eyes open. He all but collapsed onto Fives’ bunk (because his own bunk was on the top and climbing the ladder was _way_ too hard.)

“Hey!” Fives protested and Echo merely smirked and scooted over to one side, patting the empty space.

“Come ‘n lay down by me,” he urged.

Fives wrinkled up his nose. “No way, you’re gross,” he teased and Echo scowled lazily.

If looks could kill, surely Fives would’ve died where he stood. He was mildly surprised by the sheer amount of _vemon_ in Echo’s expression, despite the half-hearted nature of it.

“You _owe_ me,” he growled and Fives sighed heavily.

“Alright, alright,” he acquiesced and laid down beside his brother, pulling Echo into his arms. “Just don’t drool on me, dummy,” he grouched.

Echo snorted. “Only if you promise not to fart in the bed,”

“No promises,” Fives said flashing a wicked grin that Echo couldn’t see because his eyes were already shut.

“And you call me gross,” Echo grumbled listlessly against his brother’s chest.

“Just go to sleep, stupid,” Fives said with a laugh and carefully wrapped an arm around Echo’s shoulders, tugging the blankets up over them.

Echo exhaled softly and relaxed, halfway off to dreamland when Fives whispered, smirking, “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bees bite,”

Echo lifted his arm and smacked Fives right in the sternum.

“You’re an asth,” he growled.

And Fives merely laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> di'kut - idiot  
> vod - brother  
> vod'ika - little brother  
> ori'vod - older brother  
> osik - shit  
> ori'haat - I'm serious; I'm not lying; no bullshit  
> nibral - loser; failure
> 
> ALSO! I'll be posting a companion fic to this one tomorrow, which will include Art for this story (ie. a picture of poor Echo with his face all puffy, and my boys cuddling) so I recommend subscribing to the Series so you don't miss it. The story will be called "RIP; Server Restart" so keep an eye out for it.


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